Game Review

Irresistible Giants do a demolition job on woeful Blues
Greater Western Sydney's clash with Carlton was billed as an official AFL fixture, but the home side turned it into a Sunday evening training run when they mauled the insipid visitors by 93 points at Giants Stadium. In fact, few would have raised an eyebrow if GWS coach Leon Cameron had commanded his players to run home to at least give them a challenge after the 20.18 (138) to 7.3 (45) victory. The Giants did as they pleased as mobile forwards Jeremy Finlayson (five goals) and Harry Himmelberg (three) cashed in on the work of Lachie Whitfield (40 possessions, 18 marks and three goals), Tim Taranto (38), Josh Kelly (35) and the rest of the home side's star-studded midfield. Incredibly, Coleman medal leader Jeremy Cameron didn't feature on the scoresheet, but he did rack up 27 touches and booted 0.4 for the match after spending plenty of time roaming up the ground. Captain Patrick Cripps (12 disposals) was well-held by the close checking Matt de Boer, so it was left to last year's No.1 draft pick Sam Walsh to try and fight back against the wave of GWS dominance, especially early, a damning measure of just how poor the Blues were. It was a rough night for Cripps, who was clearly frustrated by his tagger, and gave away two silly free kicks behind the play, one of which handed Finlayson a goal. Tall forward Harry McKay tried hard and kicked three goals opposed to GWS co-captain Phil Davis, who was playing his 150th senior game, while defender Nic Newman (29 disposals and 12 rebound 50s) offered some resistance in defence.

Stung by the criticism they copped after last week's poor showing against Hawthorn at the MCG the Giants were expected to respond, and they did just that with a seven-goal opening term – after giving up the opener to McKay – as the Blues looked on purely as spectators. Going into the match, Brendon Bolton's side looked no match for the Giants on paper, but the reality was far worse as Carlton's lack of pressure and effort in the first quarter made them look worse than second-rate. They laid just 10 tackles and the majority of those came in the latter stages of the term, while the Giants piled on 21 inside 50s to just five. McKay also kicked the first goal of the second quarter, but forward entries were rare for the Blues, and with 12 on the stats sheet at half-time, the Giants went on a nine-goal run either side of the main break, before Zac Fisher booted his side's third. The Blues actually managed to kick three majors in the third term to keep the margin under 100 points, but it was a small mercy.

Both sides looked like they wanted to be anywhere but Giants Stadium in the last quarter with the Giants and the Blues kicking two goals apiece. It was a hugely disappointing defeat for the Blues that will heap even more pressure on Bolton this week. Marc Murphy was sent to hospital to get his rubs checked after he was crunched by Shane Mumford in the first term, and the former skipper was a big loss for the Blues. - Adam Curley